Description: The General Assembly,

Observing that female genital mutilation (hereafter 'FGM') is performed ritually in some cultures,

Alarmed by the long-term effects of FGM, including prolonged pain and increased risk of death during childbirth,

Deeply disturbed that many women are subjected to FGM against their will,

Recognising that when dealing with other cultures, legislation leads to confrontation, whilst education leads to willing change,

1. Condemns the practice of FGM;

2. Calls upon States to fund programmes educating citizens about the dangers of FGM;

3. Urges States to avoid using the alternative phrase 'female circumcision', as this leads to comparison with the safe male circumcision.

Votes For: 14,778
Votes Against: 1,360

Implemented: Wed Jun 16 2004

Description: CONVINCED that the freedom of press is a vital part of every nation's fundamental right of expression and a vital part of every human's right to the truth and knowledge of one's given country and one's perception of other countries. Freedom of press allows objective members of society to highlight the good and the bad of a given nation and to allow for members of that nation and members not of that nation to see an unbiased account of the current state of a given country.

DEEPLY DISTURBED by the quality of information on the state of the union in every member nation is widely disregarded to ignorance by the world because of lack of knowledge. Freedom of the press gives precedence to expanding the knowledge base of the current state of member and non-member nations alike.

CONDEMNING the misinformation of governments to the world that wish not to share the everyday occurrences in a given country through strict control of what can and cannot be reported by all forms of the press.

1. APPEALS to all member nations to enact legislature to allow immediate freedom of the press within their borders.

2. URGES all member nations to send the press to neighboring countries, far away countries, and even to areas of combat to bring back the full story to its citizens.

3. RECOMMENDS all members promote and expand the reaches of press within their given countries so that all citizens have some access to the news.

4. SUPPORTS all member nations in an effort to expand their news capabilities with needed funds, government assistance, and trade agreements to conform to the new standards of freedom of press.

Votes For: 12,882
Votes Against: 3,446

Implemented: Mon Jun 21 2004

Description: The General Assembly,

AWARE that existing international, national, and non-governmental research in the space sciences are continuously identifying Near Earth Objects (NEOs) including many asteroids and comets which have the potential to one day collide with the Earth,

OBSERVING that some of these space sciences programs are not specifically charged with identification and characterization of the hazards posed by NEOs,

RECOGNIZING that the risk of a NEO impact is shared by all nations on Earth, and thus is of international concern,

TAKING NOTE of the "Report of the Task Force on potentially hazardous Near Earth Objects",

NOTHING WITH APPROVAL the Planetary Defense Conference, held February 23-26, 2004,

CONCERNED that the funding of current space sciences projects and conferences is fairly limited,

BEARING IN MIND that adequate warning time is a requirement for any space or terrestrial based response, ranging from mass evacuation to impact avoidance,

NOTING WITH CONCERN that few formal management plans for dealing with potential impacts exist,

APPROVING of the use of hazard assessment scales, such as the Torino Impact Scale, as a means of weighing the risk of impact with the consequences of an impact,

1. ENCOURAGES all nations, United Nations members and non-members, to share any information on the trajectories of any Near Earth Objects (NEOs);

2. FURTHER ENCOURAGES United Nations members to seek agreements with non-member states to share any information related to NEOs;

3. EXPRESSES ITS HOPE that nations will continue to identify and characterize the hazard associated with potential NEO impacts;

4. SOLEMNLY AFFIRMS the continuation of pre-existing international, national, and non-governmental research in the space sciences (which are considered to be included in military budgets for the purposes of NationStates); and

5. RECOMMENDS that international, national, and non-governmental space science research groups continue to research and develop possible contingency plans should an impact be likely.

Votes For: 12,351
Votes Against: 3,273

Implemented: Mon Jul 5 2004

Description: The United Nations,

NOTING the unfortunate frequency of armed conflict in our world,

NOTING ALSO that the cost of such conflict is not limited to lives lost, but includes also the destruction of homes and property, resulting in frequent displacement of native populations,

DEPLORING the rapidly increasing number of humans living their lives in inadequate refugee camps,

RECOGNIZING the need of these displaced non-combatants to continue living their lives as they see fit,

RECOGNIZING ALSO the need for increased humanitarian aid in the above outlined situation,

ACTING in accordance with the United Nations Charter,

1. REMINDS all member nations of our leadership role in the world and our according responsibilities;

2. FULLY ACCEPTS responsibility for the well-being of non-combatant refugees displaced from their homes during time of war;

3. STRONGLY ENCOURAGES all member nations to allow these non-combatant refugees safe passage through the individual nation if requested by the non-combatant refugee(s), regardless of the refugee's race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or religion;

4. CALLS UPON all member nations to allow these non-combatant refugees citizenship rights, so long as the non-combatant refugee(s) are able to meet the immigration requirements otherwise called for by the individual member nation, if requested by the non-combatant refugee(s), regardless of the refugee's race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or religion.

Votes For: 10,174
Votes Against: 5,009

Implemented: Sat Jul 10 2004

Description: Protected woodland is being destroyed by illegal loggers and this wood is being sold around the world for use by companies hoping to cut costs at the expense of the enviroment.

The following rules would help to stop illegal trade.

1. The formation of a World Woodland Protection Team, aka WWP.

2. A world reconised certificate of legal logging, given to companies approved by the WWP.

3. Annual and random checks on companies by the WWP, to check that companies are logging legally.

4. A world recongised stamp of approval on all products made using WWP certified wood.

5. Heavy fines and on any company using none WWP certified wood.

6. Revoking of trade licences for repeat offenders.

Votes For: 10,608
Votes Against: 4,917

Implemented: Sun Jul 18 2004